1. Field of the Disclosure
This disclosure relates generally to e-commerce, and in particular to systems and methods for using an identity aggregator to facilitate online transactions.
2. Description of the Related Art
Online transactions for selling and buying products are becoming commonplace. To facilitate online transactions, merchants provide commerce websites that include products available for purchase and integrate with payment gateways to enable users to purchase the products through the commerce websites. When shopping online via a commerce website, users often create accounts with the website by selecting a user name, entering and verifying an email of the user, entering financial information such as a credit card number or a bank account number, and providing a billing address. A user may log into a user account when the user desires to purchase a product, or the user may enter financial information, billing address, and the like each time the user places an order.
While creating an account with an online merchant is more convenient for customers who frequently shop with a particular merchant than re-entering financial information each time the customer desires to make a purchase, many consumers purchase products or services from multiple different merchants. If a consumer creates accounts with each of several merchants, the consumer must remember several different username and password combinations, which can be cumbersome, inconvenient, and prone to security risks, as passwords can be stolen or harvested. Therefore, a need exists for a payment solution that overcomes the disadvantages described above with conventional payment methods.